Years of watching reality TV shows like “Survivor,” “Big Brother” and “The Bachelor” had me overthinking how I would go about hiring a new reporter for our three weekly newspapers.
Should I kick off the interview process by forcing candidates to participate in a physically demanding obstacle course? Or should I have them answer trivia questions about 1980s breakfast cereals while getting pelted with medicine balls?
I nearly settled on a singing competition in which I award the winner a one-year employment contract.
While all of these are fantastic ideas, a friend of mine that stocks the drink machines at a law office gave me some great legal advice. He told me to read through resumes, interview promising candidates and pick the person who could do the best job. While this process isn’t as fun as a masked singer competition, I committed to it.
Dante Miller
After reviewing more than 120 candidates, we hired Dante Miller. Since graduating from North Carolina A&T, she’s freelanced for Charlotte-area publications, such as Q City Metro and CharlotteFive. She’s also interned with the N.C. Department of Transportation, as well as the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture.
Aside from writing, she struck me as very personable and very hungry to prove herself. She’s primarily going to write for Union County Weekly, freeing other staff to support our Mecklenburg County newspapers.
I’m just glad this process is over, so I can get back to putting ink on this paper.
Shameless plugs
If you are active on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram, look for us @ucweekly. We’re trying to use these platforms to grow our audience beyond our distribution footprint. Also, don’t forget to register for our Thrive Over 55 Senior Expo on March 29 from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Christ Covenant Church.